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Small to medium businesses

The NSW Government is a large potential market for businesses of all sizes, buying a wide range of goods and services from the private sector - everything from stationery and office equipment to training and recruitment.

Doing business with Government can sometimes appear complex, even daunting. As a potential supplier, you need to know how procurement is undertaken, who to contact and, importantly, how to find out about the opportunities and submit a response. This is where ProcurePoint can help. It guides you step-by-step through the procurement process, providing the information, tools and support your organisation needs to do business with government. This includes:

understanding how NSW Government procures goods and services

becoming an approved supplier to government

submitting your tender online

transacting electronically with government

marketing to NSW government agencies

getting help

Understand how NSW Government procures its goods and services

Before you start engaging with NSW Government agencies, it’s important you understand how government procurement works. This includes how Government buyers source and purchase from the private sector, and the policies and guidelines that govern this process. Procurement is all about ‘value’ for money, not just price. Government buyers have to procure goods and services through NSW Government contracts or prequalification schemes where they exist.

Where NSW Government contracts and prequalification schemes do not exist, individual agencies may have their own agency contracts. Where no contract or prequalification schemes exists agencies can purchase directly from suppliers. How they do this is covered in buying off contract.

The NSWBuy suite of service delivery platforms provide an end to end eCommerce solution for buyers and suppliers. Eligible buyers enjoy the cost and time benefits of making electronic purchases, and suppliers and tender bidders can obtain broader and more efficient access to government tenders and quotations.

Small and Medium Enterprises Policy Framework

Becoming an approved supplier to government

There are two ways the NSW Government establishes supply arrangements – through a prequalification scheme or other standing offer arrangement or by competitive tendering. Find out more about registering to become a supplier to government buyers.

Prequalification schemes

You can register to become a prequalified supplier to the NSW Government at any time and view the available business opportunities online. If you decide to pursue any of these, you will need to complete an eligibility checklist and provide details on your performance record and financial and technical capacity. If approved, your business is placed on a register which is accessible by all Government agencies. When a project comes up, your business will be in a position to be considered.

Competitive tendering

Tendering is a more formal process – requiring you to respond to a Request for Tender (RFT) and submit a competitive bid within a certain timeframe. All publicly available business opportunities are advertised through NSW eTendering. If there are no projects suited to your business at that time you can register to receive automatic emails about opportunities as they arise.

NSWBuy eCatalogues

Approved suppliers can include their goods or services, including ICT services, on the NSW Government purchasing catalogue system – known as NSWBuy eCatalogues which is one of the NSWBuy service platforms.

NSW Procurement (NSWP) is committed to providing a facility to include goods and services in the catalogue so that purchasers can make buying decisions with the necessary information available. The NSW Government is also committed to making sure that processes around sending purchase orders to suppliers and sending invoices for payment are as efficient as possible. There are several methods available for suppliers to receive orders and to send invoices back to the buying agency. All of these activities can be achieved without the need for suppliers to invest in sophisticated technology. An internet connection and access to Microsoft Excel (2003 or later) is all that is needed to get started.

Marketing to NSW Government agencies

For most goods and services, the NSW Government has multiple suppliers or a panel of suppliers. Each government agency (and other organisations authorised to buy on behalf of the government) are able to choose their own suppliers. As a result, there are hundreds of different buyers spread across 12 purchasing categories. If you are already doing business with one agency, you can use this as a reference point to market your services to another. You can approach these agencies directly or use NSW eTendering, prequalification schemes and other standing offer arrangements to source appropriate opportunities.

Payment to suppliers

The NSW Government supports small business. The government and its agencies are directed by way of the NSW Treasury to ensure any payments to small business suppliers are completed within 30 days for goods and services. Additionally, payments later than 30 days will automatically attract interest on the amount outstanding.